Parametron

General

The PC-1 (Parametron Computer 1) is developed at the
Professor Hidetosi Takahasi's Laboratory of the Department of Physics, University of
Tokyo, in March 1958.

The Parametron is invented by Dr. Eiichi Goto while being
a post graduate school student in 1954.

The Parametron is cheap and reliable, and in use widely in
Japan. But it becomes defeated by the transistor based computers because of the much
higher speed.

The PC-1 is a binary, single-address computer using a
Parametron with magnetic core memory.

Its architecture is based on the EDSAC computer, but its
instruction set or instruction format is very different and more advanced.

The PC-1 is famous for its initial order - also known as
bootstrap (ed.) - which installs via a program on a paper tape written in symbols
into the memory. (3)

It took charge of decimal to binary conversion, code
conversion, the process of relative and absolute address, and so on in only 68 words. The
PC-1 bootstrap is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of computer programs in the world.
It is worth to have a look at it.

Principle of Parametron

The principle of the Parametron is invented by Dr. Eiich
Goto(2) in 1954 and is based on the phase of an oscillation where a
constant cycle is generated.
By actuating (touching) this oscillating "wave" on the right moment you
could use the pulse generated as a minimum or maximum indication.
The phase thus rotated 0 or 180 degrees and in that way the "oscillation" can be
interpreted as a binary 0 or 1. A way for encoding information.

What Goto did was to build a circuitry based on that idea,
and by joining a number of such circuits one could build logical modules acting like AND -
OR XOR etc.

Because of the much simpler construction the Parametron
computer was much more stable than the western machines with valves and transistors.
Machines build that way are also much cheaper.
It is only because of the speed of the transistor that the Parametron will loose the
battle to the commercial market. Unles one finds a way to switch much more quicly.

However development does continue in universities when we
may believe the various web pages.

Specifications

Start

September 1957

Completion

March 1958

Close

May 1964

Parametron

4.200

Memory

magnetic core 512 words(short),256words(long)

Addition/subtraction

0,4ms

Multiplication

2,6ms(short), 4,4ms(long)

Division

16,1ms(short/long)

Clock pulse

10kHz

Input

photoelectric paper tape reader

Output

tele-typewriter

Chronology

1954
The principle of the Parametron is invented by Dr. Eiichi
Goto(2) (see top
picture)

The direct current flux Parametron using Josephson junction and based on the principle of
Parametron seems to be the answer for the search of new technology for the future needs of
computer power. The combination of its very high switching speed and highly integrable
Josephson junction with the established Parametron computer technology accounts for its
high performance. This book presents the new type of Josephson computer technology which
is fundamentally different from the conventional approach. In this approach, a logic state
is represented by a flux polarity whereas the conventional approach uses a voltage state
to represent a logic state. (1)

Rebirth

2008

Researchers in Japan have taken the first step towards making
a nanomechanical computer. Imran Mahboob and Hiroshi Yamaguchi at NTT Basic
Research Labs in Kanagawa have proposed a way to perform logic operations
using nanomechanical systems (NEMS). The concept is based on the Parametron – a
logic processing system developed by Prof. Eiichi Goto, in Japan more than
50 years ago.
(4)